Blessed Mariano de la Mata Aparício (1905-1983)

April 1, 2025

By Columbia staff

April 1, 2025

Blessed Mariano de la Mata Aparício

While much of Father Mariano de la Mata’s religious life was spent as a professor and administrator, he touched thousands of lives in the streets of São Paulo, Brazil. Whether visiting the sick or ministering to the poor, the cheerful and empathetic priest, in his Augustinian habit, was always a welcome sight.

One of eight children, Mariano de la Mata Aparício was raised in a deeply religious family in Spain’s Palencia province. He followed in the footsteps of his three older brothers when he joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1921 at age 15. Ordained a priest in 1930, Father Mariano spent less than two years teaching in Spain before being sent as a missionary to Brazil, where he served for the next 50 years.

Father Mariano’s love for the Virgin Mary and the Eucharist sustained his priestly life, and he was known to celebrate the Mass with great devotion. He served in a variety of leadership positions in his order and taught courses in natural science at St. Augustine College. He loved nature, especially plants, which he said reminded him “of the greatness of their Creator.”

Known as a “messenger of charity,” Father Mariano frequently went out of his way to visit the sick in hospitals. He also served as chaplain for more than 200 St. Rita of Cascia Workshops, which employed thousands of poor people to make clothing for others living in poverty. When these visits made him late for meals or other obligations, Father Mariano simply said, “The food can wait, but those in need can’t.”

Father Mariano de la Mata Aparício died April 5, 1983, at age 77, just four months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was beatified in 2006.

Blessed Mariano de la Mata Aparício (1905-1983)

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